Baylor football pegged as preseason Big 12 runner-up for 2014

We are now less than six weeks from kicking off the 2014 college football season and all that entails — including the defending of last year’s Big 12 title and the opening of McLane Stadium.

Preseason media polls indicate that Baylor is expected to again be in the hunt for the Big 12 championship this fall. The Bears earned their highest-ever preseason placing in last week’s media poll, as writers projected Baylor as the league’s runner-up. Head coach Art Briles’s squad was one of just two teams to receive first-place votes in the poll, joining preseason Big 12 favorite Oklahoma.

A school-record seven Bears were named to the media’s Preseason All-Big 12 Team, the most of any school in the conference. The seven: QB Bryce Petty, OL Spencer Drango, WR Antwan Goodley, RB Shock Linwood, LB Bryce Hager, PR Levi Norwood and P Spencer Roth. Petty was also named preseason Offensive Player of the Year, the second straight year a Bear has earned that honor.